A Christian's View On Christianity
by whoshallJudgeAngels
Summary: We often lose sight of the Lord and forget how to serve Him. Sometimes we need remiders of how our faith should be, and what Christianity is really about.


**A.N.~ Words of Jesus Christ are shown in italics. All scripture taken from the New King James version.**

Christianity can be 'classified' as a religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who was believed to be the Messiah. Rather, Christianity is a faith; it is a strong belief in the Lord God, and that Jesus Christ, _who is_ God's Son, died on the cross to redeem us of our sins. And Christians today are called upon by God to do His will on earth, to prepare for that great Day in which Jesus will come back, and the Lord will gather together His people, Jews and Gentiles alike.

_**"But you shall recieve power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."**_(Acts 1:8). Jesus said many, many things in parables, or with double meanings, but the meaning of this verse is pretty clear: go tell everyone everywhere about God, about morality and belief, and also, about the Good News that shall set them free. Preach about the coming kingdom of Christ, convert and heal in the Lord's name, spread faith in God. Help the poor and the sick, the unsaved, literally do everything that God has called us, as believers, to do. We ,as Christians, must be ambassadors for Christ **"...in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity." **(1 Tim. 4:12).

So now, you may be thinking: "There are some things I just can't do, for _x_ amount of reasons: I'm too old, young, busy, shy, rude, uninfluential, scared..." The list of adjective excuses can go on forever. Okay, so perhaps some of the 'limitations' exist, but for those who just feel like sitting on thier hands because they think it's enough that they have been saved: **"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage..." **(Joshua 1:9). Actually, there is a possible argument for doing nothing: you cannot be saved by works alone. But for every argument, there is a counter-argument: God did not say that a saved (or unsaved) person couldn't do His will; it is a completely independent subject. The fact that works will not save you doesn't mean that you can not be an ambassador for God. Please understand that though salvation and good works are not completely separate- since good works are what the Savior instructed us to do- one thing is not necessary for the other.

So, it is time to make reference to another infamous variable: _s._ This time, it stands for sin. What is sin? Sin could be many things. It could be murder, lying, blaspheme, stealing, cheating, not listening to your parents, gossiping, doing drugs... the list practically goes on forever. But to make a long definition short, sin is anything that goes against God: His laws, His Word, His Son, His will, His chewing gum, Him. Okay, so maybe God doesn't chew gum, but you get the point. Since God cannot be evil, or look upon evil, anything that is evil is against God, and anything that is against God is sin. Period.

Where did sin come from, anyways? Satan. Where did Satan come from? Hhmmmmmm... where? The answer is in Isaiah 14:12- "**How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!"** Yup, Satan (Lucifer) was once an angel of the Lord. One of the highest angels, as a matter of fact. But what happened? "**For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation... I will be like the most High" **(Isaiah 14:13-14). That is what Satan wanted to do: he wanted to be like God, no, to _replace _and _go above _God. So what happened then? **"Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." **(Isaiah 14:15). So Satan (whose name, literally, means "Adversary") led angels in a revolt against God, and thus became the Devil, practitioner and administrator of sin.

So now that we know what sin is and where it came from, does it have consequences? Of course we probably know the answer: yes. When we do something wrong, it is bound to catch up to us. But how about from a Biblical point of view? **"... Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day which I visit for punisment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin." **(Exodus 32:34). From both points of view, sin has consequences. From the Biblical point of view, it means being punished by God. Yikes! Not good. But how would God judge sin?** "... Er, the firstborn of Judah, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so He killed him." **(1 Chronicles 2:3)_ "__**Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, ye cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels."**_(Matthew 25:41) Then what is the point of salvation?

"**He who sins is of the devil, who sinned in the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He may destroy the works of the devil." **(1 John 3:8) Jesus died on the cross for us: we know that. He died to redeem us of our sins: we know that, too. But how would that work? Jesus took the punishment that was in store for us: death. He did that because He and God love us, regardless of our imperfection. But how do we attain salvation?_ "__**But God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."**_(Jhon 3:16) So basically, what this verse is telling us is that all we have to do is: 1) Admit that we are sinners and imperfect before God. 2) Believe that Jesus died on the cross to redeem us of our sins. and 3) Confess our sin to God, and ask Him to put His Spirit into our hearts and lives. Now, please realise that this is not a step-by-step process to be done by rote. Salvation only applies if we _truly _believe and are _truly _repentant. So if it comes to that, how should _we_, as sinners, feel about sin? **"So David said to God, "I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing; but now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly." "** (1 Chronicles 21:8)

I would like to say a few more things. First of all, about faith. What is faith? You could come up with several good answers. Webster's New World dictionary says: "1. unquestioning belief 2. a particualr religion 3. complete trust or confidence 4. loyalty" Hebrews 11:1 says: "**Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, it is the evidence of things not seen." **Which definition do you think is the kind that applies to our lives, as Christians? The second one, mostly, but even the dictionary got it right: "complete trust or confidence" and "loyalty" is the kind of faith we need to have in God. How _much_ faith should we have, though? "**So the Lord said,**_** "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and planted in the sea', and it would obey you." **_**"** That's alot of faith!

Now, the Bible talks alot about faith and people who had faith and that it's impossible to please God without faith. In this world, you don't see much faith, do you? For example, there are people that are so negative, that the second they are faced with a challenge, they start rattling off reasons they can't do it. That's not faith. So, how do you have faith in God? How can you be sure of the "**evidence of things not seen"**? Start by belieiving the Bible. As you read and learn the Scriptures, faith can really grow. Don't just memorize some verses, write them in your heart. Having faith in God is crucial, and no one can do that for you. You have to develop an unshakeable faith, and that's what pleases God.

Antoher thing I want to talk more about is following God. How should we follow Him? Before, I mentioned good works. Once you are a Christian, doing good works that please God is part of your 'job'. But sometimes, we get so busy doing good works that we forget about God Himself. So we also need to follow God by honoring Him in how we are as people. That means being respectful, kind, faithful, learning about Him, and trusting Him. "**And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around." **(2 Chronicles 15:15) **"My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside."**(Job 23:11) Good deeds are important, but they aren't everything you need to do in order to follow God. Isaiah 35:10 tells us about what will happen when we follow God: "**And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on thier heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."**

In conclusion, I would like to put up a question. When you go through life, how much do you think about living for God? I mean, when do you stop and think, "I have to do what the Lord would want me to do." And how many times do you actually live like that? God wants us to live for Him, and to be as much like Jesus Christ as we can. He wants us to live in the light, and NOT exchange His truth "**...for a lie, and worship and serve the creature, rather than the Creator..." **(Romans 1:25) He sent his Holy Spirit for a reason, and since He lives in us, we need to try to be better. Yes, better as human sinners, but nontheless, we have to try to live by God's laws and Word, and by the Spirit. "**But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with it's passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." **(Galatians 5:22-25) And let us glorify the Name of the Lord in our hearts and lives forever.

**That's all, and I would seriously appreciate some reviews!  
~Curly**


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